Daily updates of Gunnison Sage-grouse at the Waunita Watchable Wildlife Site

Thursday, April 19, 2018

It was a beautiful clear morning at 24 degrees this morning! The first sighting of the sage-grouse was at 6:07 am and 2 males and 1 female was observed on the east ridge. As the morning progressed, a total of 15 males and 3 females were observed on the east ridge!! 2 males were also observed in the north meadow. It was a very active morning! Just a reminder, tomorrow and Saturday (April 20th and 21st) are no viewing days, the entire site will be closed on these days but will be open again on Sunday for viewings.

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

We had a very cold morning at 12 degrees with clear skies. Around 5:25 am we heard a coyote howling in the distance. Shortly after an animal was observed sprinting quickly through the main lek field, it was too dark to identify the animal.We only observed two males on the east ridge and a female in the main lek. The males flushed around 7 am.

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

We had a clear and calm morning at 32 degrees! Early in the morning a coyote was howling, but did not seem to affect the birds. The first male sage-grouse was observed at 5:55 am. Volunteers this morning saw a total of 10 males and two unknown birds. 4 males flushed from the east ridge at 7:20 am, and those were the last birds to be observed this morning.

Monday, April 16, 2018

This morning was a warmer morning, 32 degrees! We had about 50% cloud cover. In the north meadow two males were observed, about 40 minutes later they flushed because cattle were out grazing and a coyote was also observed. On the east ridge 5 males were spotted, and no females were observed for the whole morning. Just a reminder for anyone planning to come view the lek 32 degrees was a "warm" morning, so please wear many layers, socks, hats, gloves and a blanket!

Sunday, April 15, 2018

15 April 2018

Greetings Gunnison Sage-grouse lovers!

Sorry that we have not had the BLOG up and running this year but finally figured out the problem.

The birds are present at the lek and doing their mating dance. This morning (Sunday April 15) our volunteers reported 15 Gunnison Sage-grouse at the lek. It was a chilly and beautiful April morning. At least one female was observed as well and that usually makes the males more active.

Prior to this morning we had some stormy weather the last several days and only two grouse were present on the blustery morning of Saturday April 14 and only for a few minutes in the dark. Unfortunately many visitors did not see the birds on Saturday. I guess that's how it goes with wildlife watching; can be very disappointing. Having said that, with less than 4,000 Gunnison Sage-grouse remaining on the planet it is good to keep the big picture in mind that we are blessed to see them at all and here at Sisk-a-dee we will continue to promote the conservation of this wonderful bird. We appreciate all of you doing your part as well. Many thanks and happy grousing.